It Must Be Getting Close To Summer Again

I finally managed to do it. I finally managed to go to Swenson's and order something OTHER than a Galley Boy.

I had started out my evening with a hunger for a good coney dog. Since I was already in Cuyahoga Falls, it was obvious that the place to quell that desire was at the B & K drive-in on Monroe Falls Avenue. As I rounded the corner and approached the little stand, I was saddened to see an empty lot and a darkened kitchen. It took me a second to remember that they were closed on Monday. Drat!

My mouth was still salivating for a coney dog, so I thought for a second until I remembered that there was a nearby Swenson's located in Stow. And Swenson's definitely serves coney dogs, although up until this point, I had never had them before. Actually, I've had no other sandwich but the Galley Boy at Swenson's since I wrote about them that first time, more than a year ago. I so equated the delicious Galley Boy with Swenson's that when I craved one, I immediately associated it with the other.

Tonight would be different. Tonight I had a purpose and I was going to fulfill it, even though the entire drive over I debated switching out the coney dog for a Galley Boy. As I arrived at 4466 Kent Road, Stow, OH 44224, I pulled into the parking lot with a firm resolve on executing my original plan. Tonight it would be coney dogs for sure.

As usual, within seconds of my arrival, the speedy and always pleasant to look at carhop was at my window ready to take my order. Following the routine protocol, he ran my order into the kitchen and began shouting out parts of the order to the short order cook. I turned my car off, turned the radio on and just sat back and waited for my food.

Within just a few minutes, my order arrived. After gingerly placing the tray on my driver's side window, he handed me my drink selection, a 16 ounce California:


I tried to do some research into the origins of this concoction, but all I could figure out was that this drink was something local to the Akron area and that various recipes existed for it. At its very core, a California is comprised of fizzy grape flavored soda with lemon added to it. Skyway also has a version as does The Hamburger Station which makes their version with grape and ginger ale. I'm assuming that it was called a California because of the states proclivity for growing grapes. Swenson's has an additional concoction on its drink menu called the Florida, which as you might imagine, is orange flavored. The appeal of this drink to me was the balance between sweet and sour.

After taking a sip of my soda, I turned my attention to the coney dog. Here was a shot of the wrapper the dog came in:


Nestled inside the protective cover was the actual coney dog itself:


When I first looked at the coney dog, I was a little disappointed. I had asked for both coney sauce as well as cheese. Clearly there was no cheese on top of the coney sauce where I was expecting it. But upon my first bite, I noticed a creaminess reticent of melted cheese. Sure enough, they had placed a slice of American cheese underneath the hot dog, semi-hiding it.

First, what I liked. I loved that the hot dog bun had been buttered and griddled. It added extra flavor and an extra little bit of crunch that made Swenson's version unique. I also loved that the hot dog had been grilled, too. It gave the dog casing a nice little "snap" that a plain boiled dog lacked.

Second, what I disliked. The coney sauce, although flavorful, was also a little bit sweet, which for me detracted from the overall effect. The coney sauce was also a bit dessicated looking and just didn't have the juiciness that I have grown accustomed to at B & K. The hot dog itself wasn't dried out, but it wasn't sporting the kind of moist interior that any of the hot dog offerings at B & K have. All that being said, this wasn't a bad coney dog, by any stretch of the imagination, but there were definitely differences.

Along with my dinner tonight, I also ordered some Potato Puffs:


What, I hear you say? Aren't those Tater Tots? Why yes, yes they are ... sort of. The problem was that the phrase "Tater Tots" is a trademarked product of Ore-Ida and thus cannot be sold as such unless they are actually serving the product from that specific company. Kind of similar to other brands like Kleenex and Jell-O. I'm not sure who the manufacturer of tonight's potato offering was, but I can tell you that for all intents and purposes, the puffs tasted pretty much like Tater Tots. I've had the puffs on several occasions and while I still think the homemade onion rings are the best, these are pretty good, too.

Having finished my meal, I turned my lights back on to alert the carhops that I was ready to pay and leave. Finishing our transaction, I pulled back out onto Kent Road and thought that a great way to cap off my dinner tonight would be to check out Stoddard's Frozen Custard stand. Located in Kent, Ohio, they always seem to have unique and homemade flavors and this would be my first visit since they re-opened for the summer 2010 season.

As I drove up to the stand, I quickly glanced at the streetside sign:


Key lime and raspberry chip cheesecake ... sounded good. After my first ordering fiasco when I tried to use the word "sundae" when I shouldn't have, I walked up to the ordering window and asked for a "small raspberry chip cheesecake in a cup." I paid my $2.10, walked into the evening sunshine and sat at one of the rather dusty tables.

Here was a shot of my frozen yogurt:


The raspberry flavor was quite predominant. The "chip" part of the name referred to bits of chocolate strewn throughout the mix. Unfortunately, these little nuggets were a bit too far apart from one another, and even when I hit one, they generally weren't big enough to add a nice chocolate contrast. As for the cheesecake part of the name, while I've made and eaten plenty of raspberry cheesecakes in my time and it is a flavor I am quite familiar with, I was on the fence about the "cheesecake" flavor in the frozen yogurt. Had I not known it was supposed to be cheesecake, I probably wouldn't have detected its presence. All that being said, this was a delicious lower-fat treat to cap off an evening with some American classics.

As for Swenson's and the coney dog, I sincerely hope that the next time I get a craving for a coney dog that it isn't on a Monday, because a return trip to the B & K drive-in will be a necessity. I'll leave trips to Swenson's to satisfy my craving for a Galley Boy.

The Three Broomsticks Inn Live At Stoddard's

It was such a gorgeous evening tonight after I got out of work that I decided to roll the windows down, put some tunes on the radio, and just drive around and soak in the wonderful setting sun. My meanderings happened to take me to my old home town of Stow. As I drove down Kent Road and crossed the Stow/Kent border, I noticed a sign out of the corner of my eye. It was a sign for Stoddard's Frozen Custard & Yogurt. What caught my eye were two words on that sign:


They are right there at the bottom of the sign: "Butterbeer Drink". Knowing that the latest Harry Potter film had opened up just two days ago, I quickly put two and two together and realized that Stoddard's might be trying out something that tied in with the movie. I quickly pulled in and walked up to the counter to find out more.

I've written about Stoddard's before and have always been impressed with the frozen custard treats I have had from them in the past. When I got to the counter, I was pleasantly surprised by a sign of the daily specials for the next couple of days:


Both Stoddard's (which has just the one location in Kent) and Strickland's (multiple locations throughout Akron and the suburbs) are unique in that they offer homemade flavor(s)-of-the-day. The list at Stoddard's was tantalizing, but I was here to dig deeper into the mystery of the advertised Butterbeer. When the young woman working the counter slid open the window, I immediately inquired about the often quaffed brew from the Harry Potter novels. Her eyes lit up as she recognized a fellow fan. She confirmed that yes, it was inspired from the novels and they had mixed up a concoction that consisted of their homemade vanilla frozen custard, root beer, and butterscotch. This was then blended together and served with a straw. I was instantly sold and ordered one.

After a few minutes, I was presented with a cup (I'd say 20 ounces or so) of this frothy beverage:


Gentle reader, I have to tell you that this was a cool and delicious cup of brew. They had expertly mixed together the flavors of vanilla, root beer, and butterscotch. Each could be tasted separately and at the same time, each harmonized well with the others. The consistency was thicker than soda, but not nearly as thick as a milkshake. I'd say somewhere about the thickness of whole milk. I tried to control myself from taking large gulps through the straw, but my willpower weakened considerably after my first taste. It took me all of about 90 seconds to go from a full cup to this:


If I might be permitted to channel Charlie Brown: Good grief, that was an excellent drink! I thought about going back inside and ordering another one, but my sense of restraint (sometimes it sucks being an adult, no?) kicked in and I simply slurped up every little bit I could through the straw, wiped my mouth, and got rid of my trash in the nearest receptacle. While this version didn't warm me up like it did to the characters in the novels, it certainly refreshed me.

I'm not sure exactly how long they are going to offer this (although the ingredients are certainly things they would have on hand any given day), so I suggest you and your Harry Potter loving little ones drive over as soon as you can to pick one up. Don't blame me if you get addicted to this; I'll be the one pushing and shoving people out of the way in order to get to the front of the line to get a refill.

A Tale of Two Sliders, Part II

In my last installment, I had thrown down the gauntlet and decided to do a head-to-head comparison between the national chain, White Castle, and a local Akron favorite, the Hamburger Station. Today was the perfect day to finish this up. Currently there are four locations around Akron and the suburbs and while each offers the same basic fare (like the sliders), each also offers something unique. The Hamburger Station I went to on Canton Rd. near Ellot offers chicken wings as part of their menu. But I wasn't there today for the wings. I was there for the sliders.

First up, a shot of the exterior:


And a shot of the door with a sign promoting the double-plus goodness of their ingredients:


While the Hamburger Station does offer several combo meals, I wanted to get a specific set of items to demonstrate as much of the menu as I could. Not to mention that the combo meals all come with the fries, and truth be told, if the winner was judged solely on fries, White Castle would win hands down. The fries at the Hamburger Station may be fresh cut, but they are typically a limp, oily mass that generally just aren't good.

Here is my full order:


The slider on the back left is my post-mortem slider (just like I had at White Castle). The two sliders on the back right are my lunch. In the front you have a small order of onion rings and a small order of fried mushrooms.


The onion rings are freshly prepared every day like the fries are, except they are dredged in the batter in the morning and then left to sit in the reach-in by the fryer until the moment an order is placed. They are a nice thick onion ring and because they've had a chance to sit in the batter for a while, it doesn't completely fall apart when you take a bite. You definitely get a nice contrast between the crispy coating and the soft, creamy onion on the inside. For fast food onion rings, these rate better than average.


The fried mushrooms are prepped in exactly the same way as the onion rings and have the same crispy exterior. Again, these were better than average, but what they really could've used was some type of spicy dipping sauce, like a horseradish mayo. That would've kicked them from good to pretty darn good.

When you ask for a slider with everything, that means mustard, onions, and pickles. Unfortunately, the onions they use for the sliders are raw. Some days the onions are sliced, today they were coarsely grated. Regardless, raw onions and my stomach don't particularly care for each other. The sliders I ordered for consumption had just the mustard and pickles on them (I added a little ketchup tableside).

The sliders here are better than average. If I'm in the mood for an exceptional burger, nothing comes close to the one I had the other day at The Greenhouse Tavern. But sliders are a slightly different beast. And these are the best example I've had so far. They aren't cooked exactly the same way that White Castle cooks theirs. Most notable is the fact that they are cooked to order and the buns are grilled while the burger cooks, so there aren't any sogginess issues. To my taste, the burgers at the Hamburger Station have a much fresher taste to them and the flavor of the meat actually comes through.

Here is the post-mortem slider with everything:


And with the crown of the bun off:


As you can see, when you get onions, you get a LOT of onions. I'd show you the heel of the bun, but the cheese between the meat patty and the heel had fused the two together. Thankfully, I didn't get the same floor show at the Hamburger Station that I got at the White Castle I went to for my earlier post. That's not a show I want repeated very often.

And so, gentle reader, to whom goes the slider crown? The Hamburger Station, of course. The product tastes better, has more bun integrity, and is cooked to order instead of sitting on a griddle for who-knows-how-long. The fact that it is a local chain found only in Akron, OH is a serious bonus in my book. If anyone out there in Internet-land really loves White Castle and is able to try the Hamburger Station's version, I would love to hear what you have to say. I might even print it here in my blog. Maybe. But only if you find in favor of the Hamburger Station. No, no, I promise to be fair.

After finishing my lunch, the sun was reaching its zenith and I decided that some frozen custard was necessary to cool me off in the hot afternoon sun. I spent some time in my youth living in Stow, OH, and fondly remember trips to Stoddard's Frozen Custard stand.

Here is what you'll see as you drive up:


Today's flavor of the day was strawberry. This looked promising. A shot of the Stoddard's stand:


One thing to note: if you want the flavor of the day in a cup and not on a cone, don't say the word "sundae". There was much confusion when I went to order the flavor of the day. To me, a sundae is whatever kind of ice cream/frozen custard you want, toppings, and possibly some whipped cream. To the fine Stoddard's folks, a sundae is ALWAYS vanilla soft serve with toppings and whipped cream. There was a little confusion until I finally understood that they make a distinction. What I REALLY wanted was a "small flavor of the day in a cup with whipped cream on top". Once we established that, I paid my $2.60 and went out into the sunshine to eat my cool treat.

The color is subtle, but it is a very light pink.


When I first got up to the ordering window, I asked them how they made the strawberry flavored custard. The manager said they use real strawberries in the mix and I can tell you that by simply inspecting the frozen custard, you can still see little bits of strawberry right in the cup. The flavor was amazing. This had none of the problems that I experienced with my pumpkin frozen custard at Strickland's. The flavor was there from the first bite until the very last. And then some. Just a perfect amount of strawberry essence.

It seems a little cliche' these days to order strawberry since everyone seems to offer it, too (besides chocolate and vanilla), and isn't nearly as exotic as pumpkin or royal cake batter. But sometimes, simpler is better and when you can revisit a flavor done as well as this one was, I say go for it. While I love Strickland's attempt at the pumpkin, Stoddard's strawberry is declared the winner. At least this time around.

All in all, this was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed eating and then writing about it.